diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/facet/datehistogram/DateHistogramFacetProcessor.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/facet/datehistogram/DateHistogramFacetProcessor.java
index 50da9ea96e4..7f4f5473ba1 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/facet/datehistogram/DateHistogramFacetProcessor.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/facet/datehistogram/DateHistogramFacetProcessor.java
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ public class DateHistogramFacetProcessor extends AbstractComponent implements Fa
                 } else {
                     // time interval
                     try {
-                        interval = TimeValue.parseTimeValue(parser.text(), null).millis();
+                        interval = TimeValue.parseTimeValue(sInterval, null).millis();
                     } catch (Exception e) {
                         throw new FacetPhaseExecutionException(facetName, "failed to parse interval [" + sInterval + "], tried both as built in intervals (year/month/...) and as a time format");
                     }